Battle of Bennington

The Battle of Bennington (16 August 1777) was a major battle of the Saratoga campaign of the American Revolutionary War. A rebel force of New Hampshire and Massachusetts militiamen under John Stark and members of Seth Warner's Green Mountain Boys of Vermont decisively defeated a Hessian force 10 miles from Bennington, Vermont at what is now Walloomsac, New York.

During his advance south, General John Burgoyne decided to take the shorter overland route rather than travel down Lake George on boats. Continental Army general Philip Schuyler put local rebels to work in obstructing the British force's path by destroying bridges and cutting down trees across roads. Burgoyne's advance was slowed, and his forces began to run low on supplies. His army was desperately in need of horses, so he dispatched a regiment of dismounted Hessian dragoons under Friedrich Baum to raid Bennington for horses, draft animals, provisions, and other supplies. Baum brought with him 700 troops (predominantly Hessians, but also some Canadians, Loyalists, and Iroquois warriors), believing that the town was lightly defended. However, they found that John Stark and 1,500 militiamen were stationed there.

After a rain-caused standoff, Stark ordered his men to be ready to attack. He famously told his men, "There are your enemies, the Redcoats and the Tories. They are ours, or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow." Baum assumed that the militia's disappearance into the woods meant that they were retreating, but Stark instead sent large forces to flank the Germans on both sides. In what Stark described as a continual clap of thunder, the Loyalist and Indian positions were overrun, causing many of them to flee or surrender. Baum and his Brunswick dragoons were trapped on the high ground, and they fought valiantly, even after running low on powder and after their ammunition wagon was destroyed. In desperation, the dragoons mounted a sabre charge, and the charge failed horrendously, resulting in massive German casualties. Baum was mortally wounded in the final charge, and Stark's men proceeded to disarm the prisoners and loot their supplies. Just then, Heinrich von Breymann's 650 Hessian reinforcements arrived, attacking the unprepared Americans. The Americans hastily regrouped and were forced to fall back, but Seth Warner's Vermont Republic militia arrived to reinforce the American militia. Pitched battle continued until dark, and Breymann began a hasty retreat, having lost a quarter of his force and all of his artillery pieces.

The battle cost Burgoyne 1,000 of his men (of which half were regulars), and he also lost the crucial Indian support. Burgoyne therefore lost his reconnaissance, and he was forced to rely on dangerously long supply lines. A significant portion of Stark's force returned home after the battle, having defended Vermont from British attack.